


Carry On

by shadeshifter



Series: Wayward Youths [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dark Angel, Highlander: The Series, Leverage, NCIS, The Sentinel, White Collar
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-03
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-02-16 00:58:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2249919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadeshifter/pseuds/shadeshifter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These drabbles are set between and around ‘Methos’ Home for Wayward Youths’ but aren’t in any particular order. 'Methos' Home' seems to be following some kind of structure at the moment and I didn’t want to interrupt it too much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Senior Meets His Match

**Author's Note:**

> I think this might qualify as Senior bashing?

(Banner by [TouchoftheWind](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TouchoftheWind/pseuds/TouchoftheWind))

 

Anthony DiNozzo Senior had spent what few resources he had left looking for his son. And those resources had dwindled quickly.

He hadn’t meant to leave Junior alone in that hotel room, but he’d needed to seal the deal with a wealthy widow and having a kid tag along would have ruined all his chances. Junior didn’t usually come with him on trips, but there hadn’t been anyone to watch him, and that was precisely the problem. By the time he’d woken the next morning, wrapped in her arms, his bank balance a little less light, it had been business as usual. And business as usual meant Junior either at school or with the housekeeper. If that damn woman hadn’t had a family emergency, none of this would have happened.

The idea that they’d find his son’s body somewhere, with god knows what done to him, haunted him. What would everyone say if they knew what he’d done leaving his son, what he might have allowed to happen. All the hotel had been able to tell him was that a man sat down with his son at the pool and not too long after that they’d both disappeared.

There was a knock at his door, despite his having told the secretary not to bother him, and the door opened before he could shout his refusal for interruptions at her. A tall, thin man in an expensive suit stepped into the room like he owned it. It had taken Anthony years to learn how to do that, but he had a feeling it came naturally to this man. This man was used to power. And exercising it.

“Mr DiNozzo,” the man said, seating himself before Anthony had a chance to recover.

“Please, call me Tony,” he said with a welcoming smile, hoping that this man represented a new opportunity. “Mr...?”

“You can me Adam.”

There’s something in the tone that sets Anthony on edge, but he’s never been one to shy away from risks. The biggest rewards tend to come from bigger risks.

“How can I help you, Adam?” he asks.

“I’m keeping your son,” Adam tells him, like he’s talking about the score from the game on Saturday, like it’s irrefutable. Anthony’s blood runs cold, because while there’s been little that’s ever been entirely irrefutable to him, he has a feeling that he’s finally met his match.

“What do you want?” Anthony asks, failing to hide his desperation. “I’ll give you anything.”

“I have what I want,” Adam says. Anthony knows how to find wiggle room in a negotiation, but he can’t find any here. Adam’s tone doesn’t leave any.

“Please.”

“You left him,” Adam says, “so he’s mine now.”

“I’ll call the police.”

“Go ahead,” Adam says and he smiles. It isn’t pleasant. It isn’t the genial smile Anthony’s learned to use in any situations. Any one but this. He has no idea how to approach this one. “You can explain to them how you left your son alone in a strange place for days so that he latched onto the first person that showed him kindness.”

If it would get Junior back, he’d be willing to do it. Junior’s his son, his legacy. Everything he’s done has been geared toward Junior taking up his mantle one day.

“I’ll bring my lawyers into this, you can’t possibly get away with it,” Anthony tells him.

“Go ahead,” Adam says. “I’ve seen how deep your pockets go. I can promise you mine go deeper.”

Anthony was used to talking himself into or out of anything. He’s never felt so completely impotent.

“Please,” Anthony says again and his hands shake and voice wavers.

“I told you, he’s mine now, and if you come looking for him, if you threaten his home in any way, I’ll make sure you’re living out of a cardboard box by the time I’m through with you.”

“I can give you money,” Anthony says. He curses himself even as he adds, “if you want boys, I can find you one.”

“I have Tony,” Adam says, unruffled by the implication. “And I’m going to raise him to trust that the person who looks after him isn’t going to abandon him like he means nothing.”

“I love my son,” Anthony says. Adam gives him a look that borders on pity.

“Then why wasn’t that your first argument?” Adam asks. Anthony doesn’t know what to say to that.


	2. Old Friends

Joe isn’t sure what to make of the picturesque house in the equally picturesque suburb. This isn’t somewhere he’d ever have considered Methos living. The blue and green swing and the purple and red slide in the garden definitely make him wonder if he’s come to the wrong house.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” MacLeod asks, from where he’s standing at his side. 

“Dad!” a kid’s voice yells. “There are creepy guys watching our house.”

Joe flushes and knows MacLeod is doing the same. The last thing they’d intended when looking for Methos is being accused of stalking or even more sinister crimes. He’s about to turn to leave when the door opens and Methos’ face appears in the doorway.

“Ben, go find your brother and make sure Parker and Neal are safe,” Methos says.

“Yes, sir,” the boy says, his demeanour shifting to something Joe had hoped never to see in a child again after Vietnam. Methos steps out of the house, hand hidden behind him, clearly concealing a gun, but his eyes widen when he sees it’s them and he relaxes, but not entirely.

“Joe, Mac,” he greets them cautiously.

“Methos,” Joe says, leaning heavily on his cane as he steps forward. He grips Methos’ shoulder tightly before pulling him into a hug. “You had us worried when you disappeared like that, Old Man.”

“I had commitments I had to take care of,” Methos says, hugging Joe back before releasing him.

“I can see that,” Joe says, nodding toward the house. 

“Looks like you’ve been busy,” Mac says, following Joe’s gaze. Methos shrugs, not really giving them a firm answer, but then Methos never really had.

A young boy came out of the house to stand at Methos’ side and Joe could see several small faces in one of the windows, watching them.

“Ben, what are you doing out here?”

“Making sure you’re alright,” Ben says firmly and Mac smiles at the boy he thinks is pretending to be a man but Joe knows better. He knows that Ben is only pretending at being a kid, that there’s a killer lurking behind that angelic face.

“I’m fine,” Methos says. Ben nods, taking him at his word, though he still eyes Joe and Mac suspiciously.

“He has nice teeth,” Ben says, looking at MacLeod. Methos sighs.

“We’ve talked about this, Ben,” Methos tells him patiently. Ben rolls his eyes, for the first time really looking like a kid.

“I know,” he says, the slightest edge of petulance to his tone. “The Blue Lady doesn’t need teeth because she can’t stop bad things from happening, just help me through them when they do.”

Methos rests a hand on the boy’s head, stroking his hair, and the boy leans into his side. That seems to be enough of a signal for the others to come out from where they’d been watching at the window. A blond girl tucks herself into Methos’ other side and two boys, one identical to the first, stand just slightly behind them.

“You starting a school?” Mac asks with a smile. Joe has to admit, this isn't the first thing he’d think when it comes to Methos.

“Faith says she’s on her way,” the older boy says. 

“Faith’s supposed to be training,” Methos says. Joe can’t help but wonder how many of these kids there are that Methos is looking after.

“She didn’t want to wait around when I said you were taking on two guys yourself,” the older boy tells him. Methos sighs and glances skyward, muttering under his breath for a moment. Joe can’t help but smile a little at the scene.

“Come on,” Methos says, turning, “let’s all go inside.”

Methos looks back at the two of them and jerks his head toward the house, indicating they should follow him, too. Joe smiles, eager to find out how exactly Methos got in this situation.


	3. Old Friends 2

Faith opens the door with a little too much force and she’s sure she’s left a mark on the wall behind it.

“Adam?” she asks.

“In here,” he says from the living room, without tension in his voice. She relaxes a little, but not too much, because Adam is a very good actor.

“Practice finished early,” she tells him. The quick call from Neal had been more than enough for Faith to skip out on training with Giles. She stops in the doorway, taking in the two men having a beer with Adam. One’s old and has a cane propped up next to his chair. He’d be easy to take down. The other might actually prove a challenge. He’s tall and broad shouldered and the angles of his jacket across the back of the chair indicate a long, thin weapon of some sort, possibly a sword.

“It’s alright, Faith,” Adam says. “They’re old friends.”

“Old friends or old _friends_?” Faith asks still eyeing the two men suspiciously, because this was Sunnydale and there were no shortage of enemies out to get them.

“Faith,” he says and she rolls her eyes.

“Fine,” she says, leaning against the doorframe, keeping watch. “Buffy’s taking over for tonight.”

“But you want to go out, anyway?” Adam asks, smiling a little. She would never be able to put into words how grateful she is that he gets what being a Slayer means for her, how he knows where to give her some leeway. They’ve never had the issues Buffy has with her mother. Faith grins back. “Mind making sure the kids are ready for bed first, though?”

“Sure thing,” Faith tells him, casting a hard look at Joe and Mac.

When she walks beyond the living room, she finds the kids exactly where she expects to, sitting on the bottom steps of the staircase, straining for any bit of conversation they might be able to overhear.

“Come on,” she tells them, shepherding them up the stairs. “You know Adam’s not going to reveal anything he doesn’t want you to know, anyway.”


	4. Amanda Comes Calling

A few months after Mac and Joe’s visit, Amanda shows up on his doorstep. She tries to peer around him when he opens the door, but he simply stands in her way until she reveals the reason she came.

“Mac says you’ve got a gaggle of children following at your heels,” she says. 

“Does he,” Methos says neutrally. Amanda simply smiles at him and eases her way past him. 

“Come on, darling, share a little,” she tells him, following the sound of cheering and laughter.

There are three boys sitting on the floor in various places around the room watching a blond girl intently lean over a safe almost the same size as her.

“It was her birthday a few days ago,” Methos says by way of explanation as he comes up behind her.

“So you gave her a safe?” Amanda asks, not sure how to take that or what it means for Methos’ parenting skills. She’d have much preferred something soft and silky or shiny and expensive.

“It’s more difficult to get into than the gun safe,” Methos says with a shrug, like that means something, but Amanda has no idea what.

There’s a click and Parker turns the handle and pulls the door open. She gives a cheer and then her eyes seek out Methos’.

“Good job, Parker,” he tells her and she grins at him. “I think that was faster than last time.”

“Can I have a go?” one of the identical boys asks. Parker looks stubborn for a moment, like she's disinclined to share.

“Bet you can’t beat my time, Alec,” Parker says, beginning to smile in challenge.

“Bet I can,” Alec says, matching her smile. She shuts the safe door and spins the wheel before moving aside to let Alec have a turn.

“I’m next,” an older boy says eagerly.

“Methos,” Amanda says quietly. “What exactly are you teaching these kids?”

“Whatever they need to learn.”

Methos gives her a look that dares her to challenge him on this and she isn’t entirely sure she wants to risk his wrath. You don’t get to be over a 1000 by being friendly and easy-going and you certainly don’t get to 5000 that way.

“What about just being kids?” she continues softly.

“They stopped being kids long before I found them,” he tells her. 

She looks at the children who are laughing as they try to beat each other’s times at cracking the safe and can’t help but wonder if that’s still true. They might be playing a little unconventionally, but they were still playing, secure in the knowledge that they were safe and cared for. 

“Want me to show you a trick to this model?” she asks, sinking to her knees beside them.


	5. Faith and Hope

“Dad,” Faith says and it’s the first time she’s ever called him that. Adam turns immediately to see the blood on her hands and, even though she tries to hide it, the way she’s shaking uncontrollably. “He’s dead. I killed him.”

Adam gives her a long look and she’s not entirely sure what she expected, but this isn’t it. There aren’t any questions or accusations. Adam doesn’t even look disappointed in her. He just looks thoughtful. 

“I can make this disappear or we can take this to the police. Your choice.”

This is what Adam does; he offers them choices and it’s never entirely clear which is the better one. If there is a better one. Adam will support them fully, without judgement, regardless, but sometimes it’s easier to have the responsibility taken away, the decision made for them.

“I want it all to disappear,” Faith says, pacing the length of the kitchen. “But it won’t, you know it won’t.”

“Okay,” Adam says. “So, we deal with it.”

“I don’t want to go to jail,” she tells him, voice smaller than she anticipates.

He strides forward and draws her to him, stroking her hair. She allows herself to lean into him for a long moment before pulling away. He lets her go to resume her pacing again.

“It won’t come to that,” he says with the surety of someone who knows he can make it happen. Something inside her unclenches at that. She’s not in this alone. 

“I have his blood on my hands and I can’t get his face out of my head.”

“I know,” he says, clutching her hands in his, smearing blood between them. “It won’t ever go away.”

Adam doesn’t soften the truth either. It’s the only thing that made her trust him in the first place. He’s never lied to her and while some small part of her wishes he would, a bigger part is just glad she knows where they both stand in this and what she can expect.

“Tell me everything,” Adam says gently and she does.

-

Adam refuses to leave Faith alone once they get to the station and she’s never been so grateful in her life. She’s not used to fear, not really. As a Slayer, she’s used to facing things that make most people scream and flee in terror. But this isn’t something she can punch until it goes away.

The cop gives her a hard stare that she meets with her own glare. Adam rests a hand on her shoulder, not to hold her back, but to show his support. For once, she doesn’t shrug him off.

“I have her prepared statement here,” Adam says, sliding a document they’d drawn up earlier over the table to the cop.

“You her lawyer?” the cop asks.

“And father.”

Faith entwines her fingers and clutches her hands together tightly to hide the fact that they’re still shaking. She’s washed the blood off but she can still feel it, warm against her skin. The hand on her shoulder squeezes lightly, as though Adam knows exactly what she’s thinking, and she turns to look at him. He gives her a small nod.

“I think you’ll find that since she’s a minor and there’s no evidence of malice aforethought, the best you’re likely to get is manslaughter. Even then, the deputy mayor in a dark alley with two underage girls in the middle of the night is not something you’ll want to advertise,” Adam says, calm and collected with the barest hint of a threat beneath his words. 

The cop swallows, looking caught between... something a whole lot worse than a rock and a hard place. Faith can’t bring herself to smile like she usually might. Adam on a roll is always a sight to behold.

“And if that doesn’t work, I’ll be forced to bring up her terribly tragic childhood which left her living on the streets, fending for herself before I adopted her. By the time I’m done with them, who do you think a jury’s going to sympathise with? And when I go to the media, who do you think is going to catch the most backlash for subjecting this poor, ill-treated girl to even more trauma?” Adam continues.

Faith can’t help but rankle at being cast as a poor, defenceless innocent, but Adam knows what he’s doing. She trusts him. His hand remains on her shoulder, comforting not controlling and she knows she could put a stop to this at any point. She could say she’d rather just run and he’d make it happen for her. She remains silent.

The cop looks between the two of them.

“I’ll talk to the DA,” he says eventually and Adam nods, satisfied.

“Come on, Faith,” Adam says, standing up. The cop looks like he wants to object, but shuts his mouth quickly when Adam raises an eyebrow. Adam turns to give Faith a small smile and she rises to join him. “Let’s go home.”

She doesn’t think anything’s ever sounded more beautiful.

-

Over the next few days Faith hears how she did the right thing by turning herself in so many times that she starts wanting to punch their sanctimonious faces as soon as she sees them. Only Giles takes her aside and tells her that these things have happened in the past, that Slayers have made the same mistake. It gives her some small measure of relief from the weight she feels.

She spends most of her time sticking close to home when she’s not patrolling, waiting to hear where they’re going to go with the case. She’s not too worried that it’ll go much further because Adam isn’t worried, but she’ll still feel more settled when it’s over. 

It’s when she’s playing with Alec and Ben – Neal and Parker are at their after school art class – who are an excellent distraction from her situation, when the door bangs open and men stream into the house, immediately trying to subdue Faith and snap cuffs around her wrists. Alec and Ben don’t waste any time in taking out those closest to them, though Alec is more controlled about it than Ben.

“Leave him, Ben,” Adam says, appearing in the doorway, gun drawn. Ben sighs and moves from where he’d been examining one of the downed men’s mouths. The rest cease their attempts to capture Faith.

“This is Council business,” Wesley says as Faith pulls herself free, going to stand with Adam.

“Given that Faith is my daughter, this is entirely my business,” Adam says. Alec and Ben come to stand on either side of her, as though they need to protect her. Faith ruffles their hair, getting twin glares in response, that make her smirk.

“She needs to be judged for her crime,” Wesley insists.

“She killed a human and we’ve gone to the police to sort it out,” Adam tells him firmly. “Any further action on your part only means that you’re judging her twice.”

“She’s a Slayer,” Wesley says. “She must appear before the Council.”

“Let me put this in a way you’ll understand,” Adam says, stepping forward and putting Faith and the children behind him. “If you take her, the Council will face the full wrath of the Immortal and you should probably be aware that Wolfram and Hart owes me more than one favour.”

Wesley hesitates and Faith knows that Adam has won.

“I’ll have to contact the Council,” Wesley says.

“You do that,” Adam says in his most patronising tone. Faith really smiles for the first time in days.


	6. Graduation Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously sappy. I feel like I should apologise.

“I’m proud of you,” Adam tells her, straightening her graduation gown on her shoulders. She smiles up at him, knowing with absolute certainty that she wouldn’t be here if it hadn’t been for him and the support he’s given her. She’d barely scraped through some of her subjects, but she’d passed, and she has options open to her now she hadn’t before.

“Just as long as no one has to fight a pure demon,” she says.

“Your brothers and I can handle that,” he tells her and sits the graduation cap on her head. “You just get your diploma.”

“Yes sir,” she says, smile widening to a grin. She gives him a mock salute and goes to take her seat. She ignores the speeches because even if she’s proud to be here, nothing can make her focus through that.

Somewhere in the mass of students is Neal. It should gall her to be graduating with her younger brothers, but she’s never really cared what the other kids thought and they learned fairly quickly not to tell her what they thought of the situation. They’d also learned that her siblings were off-limits.

“Your valedictorian,” the headmaster announces and Blair walks across the stage, gown a little too large and ill-fitting for the fifteen year old. She gives a wolf-whistle and he stumbles before righting himself. She can hear a small section of the audience clapping wildly and knows that that’s Tony, still on crutches after his injury, Parker, Alec and Ben.

This, she decides, is beyond anything she could have imagined for herself at thirteen when Adam first took her in, but there’s nothing that could make her wish it was any other way.


	7. Graduation Day Part 2

“I’ve got something for you,” Methos tells Blair after the ceremony. Blair looks at him, surprised, the way he always is when someone does something spontaneous for him.

“That really isn’t necessary,” Blair says, but he’s bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Here,” Methos says, handing him a brightly wrapped package. “Valedictorian deserves a gift.”

Especially since his mother hadn’t made it in time. She’d called to explain she was stuck in some airport in South America whose air strip barely deserved the name and couldn’t make it. Methos organised alternate transport for her and she should arrive in the next day or so, but he knows it isn’t the same.

Besides, he’d bought Faith a dress and a sheath (with silver knife included) she could conceal under it and Neal has a new set of paints. Blair is as much his as they are and it never hurts to let the kid know that.

Blair grins up at him and tears into the paper to reveal an old, heavy tome. He stares, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, before looking up at Methos.

“This must be a first edition.”

Methos gives a shrug. It’s been sitting in one of his storage units gathering dust; Blair will get far more use out of it than Methos ever did, especially with his intention to study anthropology and his interest in shamans and other special tribal members.

“But this is Richard Burton’s _The Sentinels of Paraguay_ ,” Blair says. “I can’t...”

“Well, maybe Parker would like it,” Methos says, reaching out for it and hiding a smile. She’s been doing paper mache in her art classes and after a few bills, a report card, and several novels ended up as part of her artworks, they’d all learned to keep such things away from her.

Blair looks at him utterly horrified at the idea and clutches the book to his chest.

“No, no,” Blair says quickly. “I’ll keep it. It’ll give me something to read on the plane to Cascade.”


	8. Piano Man

Tony’s home for the first time since Adam took in the twins. They haven’t spoken to him yet, they simply stare at him from around corners or across the dinner table with wide hazel-green eyes. He’s not sure how to get them to trust him, not when they don’t trust anyone but family - the family they've known for months, not the stranger in their midst.

“Play something for me,” Faith tells him, slipping her hand into the crook of his arm and distracting him from his thoughts. 

“What do you want?” he asks, automatically leading her to the piano. He'd been self-conscious when he'd first played in front of his siblings, memories of being rapped on the knuckles in the forefront of his mind, but it had gradually become something of a comfort to both them and him. 

“The one you used to play Parker when she couldn't sleep.”

Tony sits down at the piano and Faith settles in beside him. He runs his fingers along the keys without playing any, just getting a feel for sitting there again. It's been months since he's touched a piano. As much as he loves college and his frat, his love of piano isn't really something he feels comfortable indulging. Although, he has been tempted to pick up guitar.

Finally, he begins to play 'Sweet Child of Mine', remembering how he'd first played it for Parker not too long after she joined them because he thought she should know she had her own warm safe place with them. 

He closes his eyes, losing himself in the familiarity of the motions and the comfort of Faith, of family, at his side. It's only after the last notes fade that he realises he's been humming along. Faith meets his sheepish smile with a grin and pats his knee before getting up. 

A moment later, Alec approaches, cautious and slow. 

“How did you play it without any notes?” Alec asks him. Tony shrugs.

“I guess I played it so often I don't need any.”

Alec is silent then and Tony copies him, because he isn't sure where Alec is going with this or what he wants and Tony doesn't want to spoil whatever progress they've made. 

“Can you teach me?”

“Sure,” Tony says, unable to withhold his grin. “Come on.”

Alec scrambles onto the seat next to him, ducking under Tony's arm so that it rests across his shoulders, and places his hands next to Tony's on the keys.

**Author's Note:**

> Fics in consecutive order available here: http://shade-shifter.livejournal.com/62341.html


End file.
